Let’s Go Outdoors in Tacony Creek Park!

TTF teamed up with Tarsha Scovens from Let’s Go Outdoors to promote water awareness in our community. On a hot Saturday afternoon in Tacony Creek Park, the Let’s Go Outdoors children’s program opened with a discussion of how we use water every day. After the kids thought of ways they use water often, Tarsha and Soriah taught the group a dance about water usage. The kids danced to a song about fish and made hand motions to represent taking a shower, drinking water, swimming, and brushing their teeth.

Since the sun was already baking the pavement at 10:00 in the morning, it was a perfect time for a water balloon toss. The kids and their parents tossed balloons and got wet to cool off. Of course, everyone made sure to pick up the popped balloons from the ground afterwards.

Kids love circle games, so Tarsha used a variation on Duck Duck Goose to get the kids excited about water. Each child got a turn to be the goose and run around the circle squeezing water onto everyone’s heads from a ball designed to absorb water.

Once everyone was nice and soaked, the kids sat in the shade of tents and decorated their own water pouches. There were plenty of colored markers to make the pouches unique, and the kids were so excited that they wanted to start drinking from their brand new reusable pouches right away. Luckily, Let’s Go Outdoors had brought water to pour into the pouches to keep the kids enthusiastic about using reusable containers.

With their pouches secured to their belt loops, the kids were ready to explore the park. Along the trail, Tarsha pointed out Queen Anne’s lace, raspberry plants, and a tulip poplar tree, which the kids recognized from a previous Let’s Go Outdoors event. As we came up alongside Tacony Creek, Tarsha paused to explain the importance of keeping the water clean and not littering. On the way back up the trail, some of the parents picked up trash from the sides of the trail to keep the park clean and beautiful.

All in all, the kids had a great time being outside and learning about water. The event was a great opportunity for families to enjoy Tacony Creek Park on a summer Saturday.

Doryán De Angel, Community Watershed Leader (Philadelphia):
Doryán works with Robin on the Philadelphia watershed team to engage and educate residents about watershed and stormwater issues. A resident of Cheltenham, Doryan started with TTF as an outstanding hands-on volunteer. She is fluent in Spanish and has a Bachelors in Environmental Science from the University of Puerto Rico. She was a student collaborator on the San Juan Bay Estuary Project. Contact Doryán at 215.744.1853 or doryan@ttfwatershed.org